Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Being Faithful

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Reading through the Old Testament, I often marvel how the Israelites continually turned away from God. Couldn’t they see how powerful He was? Hadn’t they been witness to incredible miracle after miracle? They had heard the voice of God and seen His presence descend among them. More than anyone, it seems they would have been compelled to a state of constant thankfulness and worship. Yet we read that time and again they turned their back on God and did what was evil in His sight. From the perspective of history we look back on them and think, “How stupid could they be?” It’s so easy to judge the shortcomings of others while being oblivious to the failings in our own life.

It strikes me that I am just like the Israelites. I have seen the Lord’s blessings in my life time and again. I have observed occurrences that have no explanation short of the hand of God. Yet still I am tempted by the things this world has to offer; still my attention can be directed in ways not pleasing to Him. Recently I have been focusing on the thought of not turning to the right or to the left, but only moving straight ahead. When I am wavering, the Lord has brought verses to my mind concerning Israel, how they did what was evil in His sight. I am reminded of those great servants of God about whom the Bible says followed Him in all their ways. That is the person I want to be. I want to be the one who finds favor in the sight of God because I consider His ways in all my endeavors. I do not want to be the one who chases after his own thoughts and desires.

Jim Rohn liked to say that the Bible was full of two kinds of stories, those that show us what to do, and those that show us what not to do. We have great examples on how we should or should not behave, we simply need to read and study the Word of God to determine how to live our lives. The Bible does not contain every circumstance or decision you will ever face, but it does contain every principle you will need in order to handle the situation. When we are committed to following Jesus with our whole heart, when we dedicate ourselves to walking in His way, He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). We aren’t guaranteed an easy road, but we are assured of a right direction. Regardless of the difficulties we face, knowing that we are not turning away from the Lord in any way will bring satisfaction and peace to our lives. Nothing brings more comfort than doing what is right in the sight of the Lord and acting on all that He has told us to do.

Can you relate to the Israelites as well? Have you seen God move in your own life only to later forget and carry on with business as usual? We have countless examples in the Bible of those who chased after God with all their heart, and those who turned away to pursue their own selfish desires. It never ends well for those who turn away from God. The only question then is whether or not we will be wise enough to learn from the examples of those who humbled themselves before the Lord and received His blessings, or face the consequences of following those who rebelled against their God. Following Christ is really very simple, we need only worship Him alone and do the things He told us to do. More often than any of us want to admit, however, we are far more interested in chasing after the temporary comforts of this world.

So what will you do? Will you give all that you are to follow Jesus and obey His commands? Or will you turn your back on all He has done for you and worship the selfish and powerless things of this world? Looks fade, money burns and houses crumble; there is nothing permanent except for the love and mercy of Christ. Don’t be like the foolish examples in the Bible. Do what is right in His eyes and worship the Lord with all of your heart, soul and mind. May we be pleasing to Him in all our ways; let us live that we might be worthy of His sacrifice in every moment of our lives.

Taking Time to Breathe

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Sometimes I forget to breathe. Life comes at me so fast that I find myself leaping from one project to the next, one crisis to another, and in the midst of it all I am holding my breath and simply holding on. The daily grind of life can become so consuming that we scarcely recognize the toll it is taking on us both physically and spiritually.

We were not created for this. Jesus told us that in Him we would find comfort and rest. He didn’t promise an easy going life of safety and ease, but He did say we would find rest in Him. When was the last time you shut everything down and just rested in the presence of God? I’m one of those people who will simply never get bored. I have project lists that would stretch miles and I love to continually discover and learn new things. Being a musician I also have an equal obsession with audio, and there are very few times when the stereo or computer is not doling out an endless parade of songs in my house. Through it all I have lost the ability to thrive in silence. I’ll be honest with you, total quiet makes me a little nervous; I feel like I should be doing something. My internal engine aches to be moving on to the next action of my current project instead of sitting and basking in the lack of distraction. It is ironic that one of the most disrupting events for me is that of utter silence; I truly struggle to concentrate in that atmosphere. I have become a product of my environment rather than the balanced and vibrant person I was created to be.

I need rest; we all do. Occasionally, life will throw us a curve that will force us to take a break and reexamine our lives, to slow down and catch our breath. Whether this is due to an injury, illness, job loss or other traumatic event in your life, it’s important to recognize those times as a gift and not a curse. Sometimes in our haste we ignore the signs telling us to take a breath and God chooses to intervene and force the issue. Again, don’t rebel in these moments; understand that we all need a break to refocus our attention and retune our hearts toward Jesus and His mission.

We must all learn to become comfortable in silence. Take the time to simply stop and pray; allow yourself a moment to do nothing but listen to what God is telling you. Remember, God tends to speak to us not in some dramatic or boisterous fashion, but rather in a whisper into the stillness of our lives (1 Kings 19:11-13). When we don’t take the time to pause in our life, we miss countless opportunities that God is placing before us. Remember, we were all created to do good works for Christ (Ephesians 2:10), and if we don’t intentionally investigate what those works are, we will squander the opportunity to glorify God and reflect His love to others.

In the rush of your life, take some time to get away by yourself and reflect on all you are doing; make certain that God is the central focus of every task. In a results oriented society, it is far too easy to focus on ourselves rather than our Creator. Ask Him what it is He would have you do, and then look for opportunities to serve. Don’t miss the chance to glorify God. Remember, this was the whole of Christ’s mission, to bring glory to the Father. As followers of Jesus, this is our foremost goal. A life spent glorifying God unequivocally results in a life well lived. Don’t waste another moment being too busy to rest. Let go of everything that is filling up your life. Find a place of quiet, pray for His peace and just breathe.

Are You Thirsty?

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Today I would like to focus on the flip side of yesterday’s discussion about hunger (see “Our Daily Bread”) and take a look at thirst. Clean water is something we easily take for granted in well developed countries. We can simply turn the faucet on at any time of the day or night and get a refreshing drink. This is not the case for nearly a billion people on our planet. While it is essential for health and life, access to clean water remains elusive or impossible for far too many people.

There are some rather startling statistics about water. According to TheWaterProject.org, at any given moment, half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with patients suffering from a water-borne illness; one out of every four deaths of children under the age of five are due to water-related disease; women in developing countries must walk several miles to gather water, and return carrying a jug weighing close to fifty pounds. Meanwhile in America, we average consuming thirty gallons of bottled water per person each year (NPR). While 25% of children under the age of five die because of the lack of clean water, we have been unmoved. In America there seems to be more concern about obtaining the purest water with the utmost of convenience rather than for those who have no access to water whatsoever.

Jesus said that all who thirst should come to Him (John 7:37-38). He was using the importance of water as a metaphor for what is required for life. There is no spiritual life without Christ, and there is no physical life without water. Recognizing this need, Jesus commanded His followers to give a drink to those who were thirsty (Matthew 25:31-46). Just as feeding the hungry was put forth as a stipulation to demonstrate our love for Him, so too is providing water for the thirsty. If we love Jesus, we will do what He tells us to do; we will provide clean water for those who thirst.

As followers of Christ, we must do what we can to provide clean drinking water to those in need. Persecution Project’s “100 Wells Campaign” is striving to provide water to the people of Jaac, Sudan. Many of the people in this region have come there due to the genocide in Darfur. The area cannot support the growing population, so more water is needed to sustain life and prevent disease. Living Water International has completed 9,000 water projects in 26 countries and shows no signs of slowing down. These are two charities with which I have had personal experience and recommend without hesitation. Consider making it a priority to financially support those who are in the field delivering water to dry and barren places.

On a local level, you can always distribute bottled water to the poor and homeless in your community. During the summer months, it is easy for those who live outdoors to quickly become dehydrated. Your simple act of kindness in giving them something to drink may lead to the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with them. Who knows what impact you may have on their life by being the hands and feet of Jesus?

Every time you take a drink of water, try to remember those who do not have such a luxury. Pray for them and for the ministries that are actively working to overcome the problem. Consider ways you might be able to help, either financially or through volunteering. Jesus said those who give water to the thirsty are blessed and will be welcomed into His presence. If we turn our back on those in need, we are deliberately rejecting the instructions of Christ. True followers will do what He told us to do. Give someone a drink, in the name of Jesus today. Refresh their spirit and take pleasure in being His hands and feet to the thirsty. The Kingdom of God is revealed one cup of water at a time.

Our Daily Bread

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In the Lord’s Prayer we are taught to ask for our daily bread. Most of us have never had to wonder where we would find food for the day. Our cupboards and pantries always seem to yield some sort of nourishment. Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in the West have more than likely never gone without food for an entire day. We are blessed beyond measure, and one need only look at the plight of the truly hungry around the world to be reminded of that fact.

According to WorldHunger.org, over 978 million people in the world are going hungry; that’s approximately one out of every six persons on the planet today. This is simply inexcusable for the world at large, but particularly egregious for those of us who seek to follow Jesus. We are told repeatedly in Scripture to feed the hungry (Isaiah 58:7, 10; Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 12:20; James 2:14-17; Deuteronomy 24:19-22; Luke 14:13). Knowing this, why is it that we are content to hoard the food for ourselves? I cringe when I think how often I’ve said, “There’s nothing to eat in this house!” I don’t think that has ever truly been the case. The real truth is there is perhaps nothing I am craving to eat in the house. We are so spoiled that we lament when we run out of a certain food, yet all the while we have more food in our house right now than nearly a billion people will have in an entire year. Our worst hunger cannot compare to their best days.

grocery store

Many cannot fathom the abundance we take for granted.

We must do something. The problem is large and daunting, but the God we serve is able to deliver the hungry from their distress. He calls us to be His hands and feet in bringing relief to their gnawing stomachs. God will honor and use our prayers, donations and efforts to bring His justice to this world. With the resources we have at our disposal, there is no excuse for a single person to go to bed hungry tonight. Let’s all do a gut check and review our expenses for the last month. How many needless material things did each of us buy? How much money did we spend on food that exceeded our “daily bread”? If we had only given half of that total to feeding the hungry, how much might all our contributions together have totaled? One person can make a difference here; a concentrated effort of all followers of Christ would have an impact that would resonate around the world.

Jesus made it very clear that His followers would show mercy to those around them, and he particularly pointed out feeding the hungry (Matthew 25:31-46). He made this a stipulation of being welcomed into His kingdom. If we do not feed the hungry, then we do not love as Christ loved. Our Western culture has blinded us to the needs of those in other countries; our suburban lifestyle shields us from the hungry in our own cities. It’s not enough to acknowledge and pray for the problem. As followers of Jesus, we must take action. Love is a verb and it is not passive. If we are to love others as Christ did, then we must act. I am not advocating that we should all become destitute and give every last cent to feed the hungry (although I do believe there is virtue in that). I am simply asking that we all, myself included, take a fresh look at how we are spending our money while looking for ways to distribute it to the poor and hungry instead.

Look into the eyes of the hungry. Let their faces burn into your mind. Begin to notice how much food is wasted in our country. We throw away so much food while one in six people lack food for the day. Here’s something I read about that we can all try. Get a large can or perhaps just a separate garbage bag, and put nothing in it except the food you throw away for a week. At the end of the week, weigh it and see how much you have wasted. According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day due to hunger or hunger-related diseases. How many lives might have been saved with the food we waste each week? It is sobering and it is not acceptable. Jesus called us to be His hands and feet in this world that has so much hunger. He called us to feed them. We, in turn, have become blind to the needs of others while continuing to satisfy our own selfish desires.

We all need our daily bread, but none of us needs any more than that. What if we all cut back to eating simply what we needed and gave the money we saved to feed someone who is impoverished? We can change the world, one person at a time. We can all make a difference if we would simply do the things Jesus commanded us to do. Don’t turn away from the hungry. God loves them and we should too. Determine today to make a difference in their lives; in the name of Jesus, be the hands that deliver their daily bread.

The Music of Your Life

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Music has always played a significant role in our society, and it has long impacted my own life. Lyrics can lift you up or bring you low; differing chords and notes can cause your mind to soar or your eyes to weep. The simple notes of a piano can invade your deepest thoughts, while the soaring wail of a guitar can pierce your soul. Beyond the strains of melody, the lyrical message of a song can move you to action or trap you in despair. Perhaps nothing has a greater influence on our mood than a song we hear on the radio or find playing in our head.

One of the most revered songwriters of the past forty years or so was John Lennon. Many people took his words almost as a gospel for their lives. Sadly, too many of us can relate to the lyrics of his 1981 song, “Watching the Wheels”. Take a look at a few lines:

“People say I’m lazy dreaming my life away”

“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll”

“I tell them there’s no hurry
I’m just sitting here doing time”

When I was younger, I remember relishing the words of this song. They seemed to depict such an easy going life, one without cares or worry. For followers of Jesus, however, these words are poison. They speak of a lackadaisical life, a life focused on ease and comfort. While I’m certain there are times in each of our lives when we just want to stop all the motion around us and play spectator for awhile, this is not an option if we are seriously committed to carrying out the mission of Christ. Contrast Lennon’s words with those of a more recent talented songwriter, Matthew West:

“I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions”

This should be the cry of every heart that loves Jesus. We should never be content with sitting still and “watching the world go by”. Jesus called us to be people of action. His first word of what has come to be known as the great commission was, “Go”. Jesus never commanded His followers to sit still and do nothing. He commanded them to be busy doing the same work that they had seen Him doing. We are not called to be assimilated into the culture of our day; we are called to be different and to reflect the love of Christ to a dark and bitter world. We have all been created with different gifts and passions so that we might share the message of Jesus with everyone we encounter. If we are content to simply go through the motions, we will never experience the power of God in our lives and the world will be deprived of the song we have been given to sing.

Recently I have been very moved by the lyrics of another young songwriter named Josh Wilson. Here are some words from his song, “I Refuse”:

“I don’t want to live like I don’t care.
I don’t want to say another empty prayer.
Oh, I refuse to
Sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself.
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse.”

I want those words to be the prayer of my life. I never want to take a pass on the things God has given me to do. As followers of Jesus we should always seek to be proactive in carrying out the mission of Christ. We already have our marching orders, it is our duty to carry them out and follow through.

What will be the song of your life? Will you be content to simply watch the world pass by in front of your eyes or will you refuse to leave the work to someone else and throw yourself into the great adventure of following Jesus? At the end of your life will you stand before God with the music of His love bursting from deep within or will you, in the words of Emerson, die with the music still in you? We all must choose to live life either as a passive spectator or an active participant being the hands and feet of Jesus. The choice is simple, the implementation is not. Don’t be content with going through the motions and simply watching the wheels go ‘round and ‘round; refuse to be idle and wait for someone else to do what God has given you to do. Share the song He has given you while there is still time to let your life sing. May the love of Jesus resonate loudly from deep within your soul; let this be the music of your life.